Indianapolis · Monon Trail widening · Project ST-25-099
We offered the City free land to widen the Monon.
The Monon is why a lot of us live where we live. We want it wider, smoother, and finished sooner than it is going to be. So we offered to give the City the land the project needs, for free. The City turned it down, and is instead seeking the full sixty-six-foot railroad corridor — roughly thirty-three feet on either side of the centerline — for a trail its own plans show at fourteen.
Before anything else
We are trail people
We run and ride on the Monon. We walk to Broad Ripple on it, and a number of us bought our houses because of it. It is the best public amenity in Indianapolis, and the neighborhoods along it are better for it.
We think it should be wider. The path is too narrow for the number of people on it, and the stretch north of 56th Street is overdue for repaving. We would like that finished sooner than 2028, not later. Indianapolis should build more trails like this one, not fewer.
So this is not an argument about whether the City should invest in the Monon. It should. It is an argument about how much private land a fourteen-foot trail requires, and what happens when the City and the people who live along it disagree about the answer.
We are a group of neighbors, not a political organization, and we have no interest in becoming one. There is nothing partisan about wanting the Monon finished.
What happened
In short
In 1989 the City paid CSX for the abandoned Monon railroad corridor and later paved a trail along it. A 2003 court judgment determined, parcel by parcel, whether superior title to that corridor rested with the railroad or with the adjoining landowner. Along our stretch, roughly eight in ten parcels were determined to be landowner-superior.
Project ST-25-099 runs from 10th Street to 96th Street. The work now underway covers 56th to 96th. This site is written by the 109 households between 56th Street and Kessler Boulevard, where the acquisition letters have been arriving.
The City is now widening the trail from 56th to 96th Street, and to do it, it is seeking to buy or condemn the full 66-foot former railroad corridor — roughly 33 feet on either side of the centerline. Homeowners have been offered a fraction of appraised value, on the stated basis that their land is already encumbered by an easement the City says it holds.
Neighbors offered to donate a 20-foot corridor — enough for the widened trail plus a buffer on both sides, owned outright by the City, at no cost. The City did not accept. In June 2026 it filed its first eminent domain case against homeowners in this phase — a couple near 80th Street.
That mistake wasn't made by anyone in city government today. But today's city government does get to decide what to do about it.
— Chris Carson, letter to the editor, The Indianapolis Star, August 28, 2026
Our position
What we're asking for
Take twenty feet. That is the widened trail plus a working buffer on either side, owned outright by the City, free and clear. It gives the City real title where today it has a contested claim, and it costs the project nothing.
It is also the fast path. Every parcel that ends up in court adds appraisers, outside counsel, and months. Donated land skips all of it. If the goal is a wider Monon as soon as possible, the route that does not run through a courtroom gets there first — and the money saved can go toward building more trail.
We are not asking the City to abandon the project. We are not asking for money. We are asking it to take what the trail needs and leave the rest.
Fair questions
What people ask us
Aren't you just against having the trail near your house?
It is already near our houses. That is why most of us moved here. We are asking for it to be wider, and we offered the land to make that happen.
Isn't this really about property values?
For many of these lots, 33 feet is a quarter to a third of the backyard, so it does matter to the people who live there. But that is not why we are making this public. We are making it public because the City is asking for four times the width of the trail it published, and has not said what the extra land is for.
Why not take the money and move on?
We offered to hand over the land for nothing. Money was never the disagreement, and a larger check would not resolve it.
Is this a political thing?
No. The people in this group do not vote the same way and have not discussed it. Trails are not a partisan subject, and we would rather this one did not become one.
What happens if the City says yes?
It records the deeds, it owns the corridor outright for the first time since 1989, and the widening proceeds with no litigation and no further acquisition cost. We would consider that a good outcome for everyone, including people who have never set foot in our neighborhood.
Get involved
How you can help
Stay informed
We send updates when something actually happens — court filings, City decisions, public meetings. Usually once or twice a month, never more.
Contact your councilor
This project is paid for with local bond money the City-County Council authorized. Councilors can ask, in public, why a 14-foot trail requires a 66-foot corridor.
Read the documents
Everything on this site comes from public records. If you write, report, or make decisions about this, use the primary sources rather than taking our word for it.
Coming soon
Do you live along the corridor?
We're building a tool that lets adjoining property owners look up what the 2003 court judgment determined about their own parcel.
It isn't ready yet. If you own property along the Monon between 56th and 96th Street, use the form above and tell us you live along the corridor — we'll get in touch directly.